Google is launching its GDrive cloud storage service today, according to the company's French blog site, where word of the surface leaked prematurely.

Additional capacity starts at $4 per month for 20GB

According to an announcement made on its French blog site, Google has launched its GDrive, offering users 5GB of free space - an increase of 4GB over what it had been offering users of Google Docs.

While no official notice has come from Google, according to online publication TechCrunch, the company apparently posted details of the new cloud storage service on its French blog and then quickly deleted them.

The blog post reveals that Google Drive will offer users 5GB of free space, and additional capacity that starts at $4 per month for 20GB.

As expected, Google's cloud storage service will offer comprehensive search capabilities that include support for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) documents and image recognition.

There will be a Web-based file interface that offers access to 30 different file types, including HD video, Photoshop and Illustrator.

Additionally, Google will launch apps for PCs, Macs and Android-enabled devices. The company expects to launch an iOS app in coming weeks.

Lucas Mearian covers storage, disaster recovery and business continuity, financial services infrastructure and health care IT for Computerworld. Follow Lucas on Twitter at @lucasmearian or subscribe to Lucas's RSS feed. His e-mail address is [email protected].